Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923-23 March 2015) was Prime Minister of Singapore from 3 June 1959 to 28 November 1990, succeeding Lim Yew Hock and preceding Goh Chok Tong.

Biography
Lee Kuan Yew was born in Singapore in 1923, a scion of a wealthy Chinese family. He studied at Cambridge and qualified as a lawyer, being called to the English bar in 1950. On returning to Singapore, he became a spokesman for the Chinese community as well as becoming involved in labor and trade union concerns. In 1954, he formed the People's Action Party, a democratic, socialist organization which under his leadership dominated Singaporean politics ever since. He took part in negotiations in London for self-government and in 1959 formed his first government, with a policy of greater industrialization. He led Singapore as a component state of the newly formed federation of Malaysia in 1963, but in 1965 reluctantly accepted Singapore's independence. At first a committed socialist, he gradually but then wholeheartedly accepted capitalism, transforming his country into one of the world's most successful economies. At the same time, the state remained authoritarian and strongly interventionist, so that his leadership was never seriously challenged. He stepped down voluntarily in 1990 to go into retirement. He died in 2015.